RTW: Book of the Month for January, 2013

It’s that time again! Every month, the YA Highway team ask us to select our favorite read from the past month and write about it for the weekly Road Trip Wednesday meme.

Hands down, the best book I read in January was ON WRITING by Stephen King. But this was the third or fourth time I’ve read it, so even though it’s a great book, I’m not going to count it. Sorry Stephen!

Of the remaining books, my favorite reads of the month were actually two novellas: GLITCHES by Marissa Meyer, and DESTROY ME by Tahereh Mafi. Both of these are tie-ins with the authors’ current series, written to expand upon what has already happened, not to further the plot.

GLITCHES is a prequel to CINDER, describing Cinder’s first encounter with her step family. Marissa’s characters are so engaging, and Cinder is a truly delightful MC. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It’s a shame it was so short, but it certainly amped up the anticipation for SCARLET, the second part of her Lunar Chronicles series. You don’t have to read GLITCHES before reading SCARLET, but it’s worth reading anyway.

DESTROY ME is very different in tone to GLITCHES. Rather than giving back story to SHATTER ME, Tahereh picks up the story from the end of SHATTER ME, but from the perspective of a different character, namely Warner. I won’t say too much more about the plot in case you have yet to read SHATTER ME. Suffice to say, Tahereh show us a new dimension to Warner, and even helps us understand him better–and perhaps even have some sympathy for him? This is much longer than GLITCHES, and very well written.

If I had to choose between the two, DESTROY ME would just get the edge, simply because I thought Tahereh did a great job of adding depth to Warner’s character, and giving us a very different perspective on things… and that’s all I’m saying.

What were your favorite reads in January? Comment here, or participate in the Road Trip (details on how to join in are on the YA Highway blog).

8 Responses to RTW: Book of the Month for January, 2013

Looks like a great month for reading! I confess that I haven’t gotten to SHATTER ME or CINDER (yet) so I don’t know much about the novellas. I’ve read ON WRITING, though, and it’s the only book about writing that I’ve ever loved. I read it from the library and I really need to get my own copy so I can read it again.

Re-reading ON WRITING this year was an interesting experience. There were things King said that, perhaps, didn’t jump out at me in previous readings, but since NaNoWriMo, and the things I learned about myself during that month, really resonated with me this time around. I read other craft books, but this one is the gold standard for me.

I hope you get to SHATTER ME and CINDER soon–they’re both great books.

Yes, Anna, if you’re a writer, or have aspirations toward being a writer, you really should read ON WRITING. I’ve been reading it at the beginning of the year for the past couple of years now to remind me of why I write and help me focus on the coming year’s writing. I highly recommend it.

I hope you enjoy DESTROY ME at least as much as SHATTER ME. Warner’s not the most likeable of characters, so it was a bit of a risk telling a story from his POV. But I think Tahereh pulled it off superbly.